you say salon, i say pass the cheese ball

Let’s just call it Writers in My Residence.Bob Dylan came. He liked the samosas. I liked that I knew some people in six degrees of separation ways, but not really. It made for much to talk about. Sculptors and writers talking in the kitchen pleases me. Poets and painters talking in the front hall worries me. What are they plotting??? Here they are. Writers, artists of all stripes. Readers. Mostly readers. Word lovers. The best kinds of persons. Nestled in front of bright blue art by Rhonda Pearl.Reading and listening. One reading is about Anne Wilkinson, a little known modernist poet who is now being more known through The Porcupine’s Quill ‘Essential Poet’s’ series and the good work of Ingrid Ruthig, editor of the The Essential Anne Wilkinson.Another reading is new fiction by Stuart Ross, followed by poetry from his new book Our Days in Vaudeville (Mansfield Press). Here, the omnipotent poet holds in his hand an errant firefly that had been terrorizing the living room for months. We laughed. We were enraptured. (Enrapturized?)We had food and drink and indoor sunshine.

Such is the power of words in enclosed spaces.

Big thanks to a beautiful bunch of participants for this beautiful night.

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14 thoughts on “you say salon, i say pass the cheese ball”

Salon seems such a small word for such a big moment in time. A marvellous evening and such interesting company. Loved how we rolled words around in our minds, weighing them, exploring their echoes, then tasting them on the tongue when invited to read a line each from a Wilkinson poem. Now THAT was a bit of Ruthig genius, I must say.

And if that wasn’t enough, add in Stu Ross to the mix and you have mind-bending wordplay and eyepokes of language and ideas. Fabulous.

And Carin. You. You and lovely husband of yours. Making us all feel like this was just a wee gathering in your living room/salon/home — just a quick little “something” you tossed together like Kraft dinner when really, you were offering a grazing buffet. Which reminds me of all the delicious snackeroonies — savouries and sweets. Cider and wine. Tea.

You say Salon. I say fantastic. And I also say: Thank you Carin and Peter.

Carin, I can’t thank you enough for including me in this beautiful evening. Listening to the spoken word and sharing poetic reflections and interpretations was a truly rich experience. I’m reading poetry differently now and have even been inspired to write a piece.

It was such fun. Thank YOU for the beautiful reading, as well as the close read, of Anne Wilkinson’s work. It was my introduction to her, and possibly the same for a few others in the room. Hoping we can do something similar in the months ahead.

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